Steve Bruce wasted no time in changing things against Preston North End following a lacklustre first half from his Aston Villa players.

January signing Lewis Grabban and rookie attacker Keinan Davis were summoned as Conor Hourihane and Robert Snodgrass made way.

It was Grabban’s longest outing in claret and blue since arriving at the club on deadline day and he scored the goal which grabbed Villa a point.

Here’s how the 30-year-old’s 45 minute outing unfolded…

Where did he play?

A lot has been made about how Grabban forces his way into this Villa team with Scott Hogan enjoying the most prolific spell of his B6 career.

Grabban prefers to play through the middle and scored 12 in 18 Championship starts for Sunderland during the first half of the season doing just that.

But part of his appeal to Bruce was his ability to play in any of the positions across the forward line.

With target man Keinan Davis also introduced at half-time, Grabban was asked to play as a right winger and he seemed comfortable.

His first involvement was to sweep a ball clear at the back post and he was diligent in his defensive duties throughout, which is what Bruce demands from his wide players.

Grabban clearly isn’t the type of winger to beat his man and whip a cross in as Albert Adomah and Snodgrass tend to do, but his willingness to drift inside and link with Villa’s front two was exactly what was needed on this particular occasion.

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Neat and tidy

What stood out most from Grabban’s performance was his technical ability. He works simply, but effectively. Very few passes go to waste and he doesn’t indulge himself with raking 50 yard passes which clearly aren’t part of his armoury.

The odd pass missed its intended target but Grabban will be reasonably happy with his efforts in his longest Villa outing to date.